Daddy's Deploying: mdnorgard89@aol.com

This book is a poem I wrote as I watched my husband be absent through his first child's first year of life. He struggled missing his first words, first foods, first steps, and first birthday. With only seeing his little world through photographs, he emotionally grappled to both connect with him and settle in to the father figure role. I hoped to capture all of the sentiments that are connected with parents and children when facing a deployment. There is nothing that can give them that time back with their children, and nothing that can make up for that initial lack of connection between parent and baby. I try and highlight the similarities of both of their current geographical worlds and shrink them by showing that they are both looking at the same moon, stars, and sun. It helped my son connect with his daddy knowing when he looked up in the sky at the same time his daddy was, they could share a moment together, and both my son and I could feel less alone.

by Marlene Norgard

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